How to Help

There’s only so many times we can send the same old message over and over again. “Please make a new Shining Force game” gets a bit tired after a while. So what better way to show Camelot the strength of our feelings for the series than by sending them a “Shining Anniversary Bundle of Love” in the post.

Write a Letter

Essentially what this entails is everyone sending a letter (yes, a postal letter – not an email) detailing their love of the series, and anything else they care to send which shows what a big fan they are. For example, you could send…

I’m sure you’ll all have some great ideas – why not post them in the comments on this page or chat about them at the SF:SOS Forum?

Update! 12th March 2011: Now accepting Digital Letters for the campaign, full info here.

What should I write in my letter?

Well, I know it may seem silly to go to great lengths when the letters will be in English and most of the staff at Camelot are Japanese – but they can read our letters and the love will shine through.

You can write as little or as much as you like to express to them how much you love the series and how great it would be if they were involved again. For example, I might start by explaining how I got into the series, how it has impacted my life (Shining Force Central, and the great folks I have met through it), how amazed I felt when I played Shining Force III and how I cried when I first fired up Shining Force EXA. Yes, that’s right – I cried. I cried for what could have been, but was not. Pretty artwork, lovely music – but no true Shining substance. I’ll include photos of my collection and a model or soft toy Yogurt.
I’d like to think we can gather up at least 100 letters, but however many we gather, it will convey our message

Make a Video

While chatting with SFCer Stordarth about his ideas for what to include with his letter, I thought of something else we could all do to get Camelot’s attention. I have set up a YouTube Channel for the project. Many of us have webcams, or know someone that does – or have mobile phones (cellphones) with video capability. How about we all make a short clip of ourselvesand post them all on the SF:SOS YouTube Channel(ie, send them to me and I’ll upload them all). Let’s all record the same message, to show how the series has brought such a diverse range of people together due to their shared interest:

“Hi Camelot, I’m [name]. I’m [age], I live in [country] and I love Shining Force!”

Of course, this is in addition to the letter writing campaign – just trying to cover as many angles as possible. Think of it as being like a video petition. The problem with normal online petitions is that they can so easily be faked. With a video however, it’s blatantly obvious that each person is real!

Why not go a little bit further and include some of your favourite Shining items in your video? Hold up a game, a piece of fanwork, print a poster, wear your costume/T-shirt, show off your Shining tattoo… anything to show what a fan you are!

You can send your videos to me for inclusion on the SF: SOS YouTube Channel by email. Or, if you need to send it directly from your mobile phone, please email me for the private address through which you can do so.

Sign the Shining 20th Birthday Card

I would also like to include a large Shining Birthday card with everyone’s name signed in it. Hopefully a fan with some artistic ability (ie, not me!) will be able to design the perfect card which I can get printed properly. If everyone sends a ‘signature’(just how you’d sign your name on anyone’s birthday card, not your official signature) for the card, I can cut them out and stick them all in

Where do I send my Letter and Video?

When you are ready to send your Shining Force: SOS letter, pleasesend it to the address below. Videos can simply be emailed to me, please keep the file below 5MB.

Thecampaign is now over and the address has been removed for privacy reasons.

The deadline for the letters to reach me is Saturday March 13th 2011, in order that we can be sure the parcel gets to Camelot in time for the 29th. You might also want to consider posting a copy of your letter on the campaign forum to inspire others.

Note that depending on how much is included in the bundle, it may be costly for me to post it – and while I’d like to be able to cover the entire cost myself I am also saving up for my wedding! If it looks as though the parcel is going to be particularly costly I may need to request donations to assist in the cost of posting. For example, a 2kg package sent by Royal Mail Airmail to Japan costs just under UK£24.00/US$39.00. Any heavier than that and it has to go by Parcelforce, which is more expensive.

What Happens Next?

So, you’ve written & posted your letter, you’ve included a ‘signature’ to go in the birthday card and you’ve sent your video for the SF:SOS YouTube channel. What then?

I’ll gather the letters etc together and send them all on in one big Shining themed bundle to Camelot- a co-ordinated effort like this should have more impact than bits and pieces of fanmail over the next few months. In this way we can ensure the package reaches them around the date of the series’ 20th Anniversary in March 2011 – right before the new tax year, and an ideal time for new game development projects to begin

I’ll also send out a letter to Sega & Ninendo’s main branches detailing the SF:SOS campaign and including photos of the bundle sent to Camelot – perhaps also copies of some of the letters.

While I’m gathering letters, videos etc, what you can do to help further is to try to publicise the campaign. Add a banner or button (will upload some for you soon) to your website; print a poster and have your local games shop stick it up somewhere; write to the gaming press (online or printed) to tell them about the campaign. Tell your friends at other forums (but please don’t spam). Whatever it takes to get the word around! We need to gather as many fans as we can.